Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!

Monday, April 1, 2013

How the UFT Misleads and Obfuscates on Danieleson "Pilot"

Our union was formed in order toprotect teachers from administrative malpractice… not to facilitate it. Yet , with the “pilot” unchallenged by UFT leadershipand
now in its *second* year, the pedagogy of teachers of severely and
profoundly handicapped kids will again be analyzed and rated according
to Danielson’s ”spam-in-a-can” criteria. ----Danielson doesn’t work in D75. Mulgrew knows this. Alas, the rest of UFT … even ( and I really don’t quite *get* this part)the Special Ed section ofUFT…does
not seem to understand what I’m talking about... ....after twenty-six years on the lookout for this sort of thing, I can
recognize a truckload of DOE *stupid* from a mile away. Especially
when it’s headed right at me.----So when I saw this… this thing, “The Danielson Framework”, unveiled in September of 2011 and renamed ( Why?)by
the NYC DOE ,”Talent Management Pilot”, I recognized a code-blue
situation immediately and made a bee-line to my union leader, President
of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew.----I managed to corner him after the UFT monthly Delegate Assembly in October.
I told Mr. Mulgrew that my District 75 “Network” ( group of NYC
schools) was “piloting” ( testing) the Danielson Framework as a teacher
observation tool in D75. He exclaimed, and I quote: “They’re using *Danielson* in D75 !?” He squinted, his brow furrowed. Then he rolled his eyes. I slapped some related paperwork into his hand. ----Paul Hogan, The District 75 Danielson Pilot: CRASH! Burn! Fizzle………..

Paul Hogan is a retired District 75 teacher and MORE member. He has become active with MORE because of the outrage at not only the DOE but of the tepid, misleading response of the Unity/New Action UFT leadership.

A comment from a mentor to teachers at ICE:

Danielson is being used as a tool for observation all over the place. D 75 is
using it -they are said to be "piloting" it. Even though Danielson
herself said it is inappropriate for special ed. She said she would be
hiring someone to develop a rubric for special ed but it has not
happened. Instead there will be an accompanying piece of things to look
for-but the rubric is not changing. Principals will be trained in it and
it is being rolled out on June 1st citywide and being tauted as the
first time everyone in the city will be on the same page. What a
claim!!!!

Paul Hogan posted a detailed analysis on his blog. Below are a more excerpts below but read it all at:

25MarCan Charlotte Danielson “cure” Down’s Syndrome? Can she make it “go away” ( i.e. render it educationally irrelevant)? What about cerebral palsy? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?Ms. Danielson is the creator of the now-famous “Danielson Framework”. It is a teacher observation/evaluation tool that is all the rage in those school districts around the country that are right now undergoing what is generously described as school “reform”. So my admittedly loaded question is this: Can she ( or *it*; i.e. the Framework) enable a 16-year-old quadriplegic — with irreversible birth trauma-related organic brain damage, no spoken language capacity, and profound intellectual disability — to miraculously rise from his wheelchair and his wordlessness and lead his classmates in a grade-level discussion of , say, Shakespeare’s break with Renaissance literary convention in “Romeo and Juliet”?All reasonable people agree: no. But the NYC Department of Education, particularly in the Bloomberg era, treats “reason” as one would sensibly treat a contagious disease. And, after twenty-six years on the lookout for this sort of thing, I can recognize a truckload of DOE *stupid* from a mile away. Especially when it’s headed right at me.Mulgrew used to teach in D75 and *instantly* saw the problem: Danielson’s work is normed on general education teachers of general education students in general education classrooms. District 75, in contrast, serves students with severe and profound intellectual and/or behavioral handicaps, often compounded by physical disabilities, who are taught in specialized, *self-contained* ( i.e. special ed only) classrooms by teachers who are trained and licensed to do this highly specialized — and very different — type of teaching.In short: NO gen ed students, NO gen ed classrooms; NO gen ed teachers in D75. This being the case, it seems inarguable that mistakes were made ( a lot of them) when, last year:1. the DOE assigned 11 schools in District 75 to the so-called Talent Management Pilot ( DOE-speak for its version of Danielson);2. the UFT agreed to go along with it;3. no one bothered to consult the Special Ed professionals ( many with post-graduate degrees in Special Ed. and decades of experience working with the student population affected) in those 11 schools; the teachers whose professional lives were about to be turned upside down by the astoundingly *dumb* idea of test-driving the Danielson Framework through District 75 .Here’s the problem: Danielson doesn’t work in D75. Mulgrew knows this. Alas, the rest of UFT … even ( and I really don’t quite *get* this part)the Special Ed section ofUFT…does not seem to understand what I’m talking about. In November of 2012, more than a *year* after my ‘brief encounter” with President Mulgrew at the DA and, after a lengthy and complicated correspondence with the UFT VP for CurrIculum that seems to have gone absolutely *nowhere*, I emailed said VP as follows:“It is not a trivial issue. Evaluating teachers of severely multiply-handicapped children with a rubric that is designed to evaluate teachers in general education settings with general education students is tantamount to punishing and penalizing teachers who go into this demanding , difficult and highly *specialized* type of teaching. Our union was formed in order toprotect teachers from administrative malpractice… not to facilitate it. “The simple fact is that the vast majority District 75 kids cannot, by definition, perform to the standards required by the Danielson Framework. (That’s WHY they’re in District 75!) Yet , with the “pilot” unchallenged by UFT leadershipand now in its *second* year, the pedagogy of teachers of severely and profoundly handicapped kids will again be analyzed and rated according to Danielson’s ”spam-in-a-can” criteria. The inescapable consequence: artificially low ratings for the aforementioned Special Ed teachers. It’s hard to explain to people outside of the district just how ridiculous this is; how *utterly* mismatched the tool is to the task; how blatantly unfair to the specially-trained and specially-licensed special educators who are — along with their students, of course — its primary victims. And, one increasingly suspects, its *targets*.Ridiculous, you say? It can’t be? Well, let’s look at some examples. In Danielson’s “Domain 3: Instruction,” the classroom teacher can earn a rating of “Highly Effective” ( the highest rating possible; it corresponds to a rating of 4 on a 4-point scale) *only* if his/her students are observed by the evaluator ” formulat(ing) high-level questions.” Additionally, said students must “assume responsibility for the success of the discussion.” In short, if one’s students aren’t observed doing this ( i.e. assuming “responsibility for the success of the discussion”) the teacher cannot be rated as “Highly Effective.” These behaviors are, evidently, what Ms. Danielson expects of high school students in general education.Now. Perhaps we can excuse Ms. Danielson. ( And perhaps not . Her website bio says she has experience in teaching “all” levels, which is clearly not the case.) Statistically speaking, we are talking about kids that are outside the norm: 5% or less of NYC public school enrollment. It’s unlikely that Ms. Danielson understood this initially — I told her later — but many of the youngsters in District 75 programs cannot speak. I don’t mean to say their language is “weak”. Or that they don’t speak *clearly*. I mean to say they literally “cannot speak”. At all.Is something analogous happening here? It’s difficult to know. But I do think it’s incumbent on Ms. Danielson… given Gates’ scuzzy history… to make plain the full extent of her collaboration with him and be utterly clear on the question of exactly who is paying exactly whom for exactly what.Corporate influence aside, other disturbing questions are raised by the D75 Danielson Pilot. The public trusts that there are responsible and knowledgable adults in charge at NYC DOE who presumably SHOULD have put the kabbosh on a no-go notion like Danielson in D75 but did not, have not, and … apparently… will not. Does not the district have a Superintendent? Do not these 11 schools have a Network Leader? Do these education leaders not understand the nature and learning characteristics of the student population whose interests they purport to serve? Did they really read and really understand the Danielson Frameworks before they decided to take the education of NYC’s least advantaged children out for what amounts to a two-year joy ride? Do they really know what they’re doing?Ms. Danielson has a vaguely worded — and weirdly redundant ( Three paragraphs. Paragraph 3 repeats paragraph 1, nearly verbatim. BTW,should we rate that particular writing sample 1, 2, 3 or 4 ?) — official bio her on website. She was kind enough to send me two meatier resumes on request. Likewise, Kirsten Busch Johnson, the DOE official in charge of the aforementioned Talent Management Pilot ( the Danielson Framework slightly ——and pointlessly, imo— revised by NYC DOE) boasts a google-able online resume . Three years teaching experience right out of college. Before going to work for Microsoft, i.e. Gates. (Hey, she must be an expert.)But what about the Superintendent ? And the Network Leader? You know, the upper-level DOE managers who are really supposed to know these D75 kids. Who are these people, really? I know their names and their faces and have met and spoken with both. Yet I can’t find an online resume for either. I’m wondering if there’s a reason for that. How much do they really understand about this population? What is their training and education, exactly? How many years– if any — have they spent working in classrooms with these profoundly impaired kids? Did they spend enough time there to really absorb the nuances and complexities of getting these kids to learn? Frankly, one doubts it. In any case, this taxpayer wants to see the resumes.Alas, we are kept in the dark. And, while were at it, let’s look at the building administrators: our principals and their assistant principals — the bottom rung of the ed admin ladder and consequently the paramecia, if you will, of the now-immense corporate “reform” movement food chain. These grim souls do the dirty work. Now functioning as professional nit-pickers and fault-finders, they are in fact ex-teachers (usually) with very limited ( almost always) hands-on experience themselves. They nonetheless go into classrooms, ( in teams, if you can believe it) observe the instruction in progress and try to make the Danielson-based Talent Management Rubric sound relevant to a situation where no objective, clear-thinking adult believes it has the slightest applicability.One could almost feel sorry for them. It’s a fool’s errand if ever there was one. But, by dutifully following orders from the “big fish” in this particular bureaucratic swamp, the small fry get to keep their out-of-classroom jobs, along with the attendant perks. So they play along (or should I say “swim along”), aiding and abetting when and where they are needed. Classroom teachers, consequently, take on a serious risk by teaching profoundly impaired kids what they actually need to learn….as opposed to what’s in Ms. Danielson’s Framework… and doing so in ways that help those kids to actually *absorb* it. Whatever her intention, Ms.Danielson, by her own admission, has no clue as to what they need to learn. Nor how to deliver it. And her rubric reflects that. But what’s really alarming is this: neither do the DOE “suits” who brought the Framework into the D75 buildings. And they’ve been involved with the D75 population for years. At this point , it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that they just don’t care. At least not about the education of handicapped kids.So, what do they care about then? Again, I’ve no idea. I’m neither mind-reader nor psychiatrist. Some people don’t care about anything. Let’s leave that ”to Dr. Freud along with the rest of it!” But instinct ( and experience) tells me that the Talent Management Program’s application to D75 is concerned less with education than it is with *defamation*. This being the case, it becomes more of a labor/management issue ( or a legal matter) than an educational one. As to possible motive: it’s a lot easier to fire people if you can manage to professionally discredit them first… even on the basis of such absurd evidence as that yielded by the use of the Danielson Framework as a teacher observation tool. And it’s easier still to create a hostile work environment falling just short of the legal standard of “hostile work environment” by setting them up to fail. The Framework is useful for this purpose as well. Then you don’t have to fire them. You can just drive them away.So… where were we? OH! Right! Now our union leader is going to do….well…. what exactly?

3 comments:

Even if the NYS Education Department approves of the use of Danielson, specific actions of local school districts relating to its misuse can be appealed to Commissioner of Education King under Section 310 of the Education Law.

You have to be kidding. You mean the same john King who is making his second appearance at an E4E meeting this Thursday? The same charter anti-public ed guy? The same guy who does not demand charter school teachers be subject to the same eval system he is forcing on the union teachers? Oh, let's appeal to him. Clearly, you are an apologist for the Unity line.

John King and Beth Berlin have continued the NYS Education Department's longstanding policy and practice of having Commissioner's decisions ghostwritten by the NYS Education Department's Office of Counsel.

Comments are welcome. Irrelevant and abusive comments will be deleted, as will all commercial links. Comment moderation is on, so if your comment does not appear it is because I have not been at my computer (I do not do cell phone moderating).

UFT Election Vote Comparison: 2004-10

A Personal Historical Perspective

Why Karen Lewis Reads Ed Notes

"A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

What media call "philanthropy" for the public schools are actually seed monies to establish a private "market" in publicly-financed education - an enterprise worth trillions if successfully penetrated by corporate America. Cory Booker, one of the "New Black Leaders" financed by the filthy rich, is key to creating a "nationwide corporate-managed schools network paid for by public funds but run by private managers.

"Ed Reformers" want to cash in on public education and to control its content and outcome, not improve it. Provide great education? Baby boomers had as close as this country has ever gotten to it when we were growing up. The Ed Reform Movement has no interest in seeing such a well-educated, democratically astute population ever again.

History of the UFT Pre-Weingarten Years

This award-winning series of articles by Jack Schierenbeck originally appeared in the New York Teacher in 1996 and 1997.

Naturally, from a certain point of view. But, despite certain biases, Schierenbeck, a great guy, was one of the best NY Teacher reporters so this is worth reading. Jack suffered a debilitating stroke many years ago (I used to get secret donations to ed notes from him through a 3rd source.)

“The schism in the union over radical politics [is] a major reason for stalling the growth of a teacher union for decades.” Revolutionary politics and ideology take center stage, as the original Teachers Union becomes a battlefield, pitting leftist against leftist and splitting the union.

Clarence Taylor's "Reds at the Blackboard" focused on the old Teachers Union which disbanded in 1964 after suffering from anti-left attacks.

Effective Union Organizing

A video series put together by Jason Mann from the British Columbia Federation of Teachers about social media and how to use it for effective union organizing.

The first series was called New Media For Union Activists Roadmap and it's still available on-line at:http://www.newmediabootcamp.ca/welcome/I watched some of them and need to rewatch as they are loaded with information.

The second series started last week and it's called "Online Campaigning for Union Activists"

You Don't Have A Choice - Join the Revolt

Hedges says, There are no excuses left. Either you join the revolt taking place on Wall Street and in the financial districts of other cities across the country or you stand on the wrong side of history.

Ex-Harlem Success Teacher Comments on Eva the Diva

I am a former Harlem Success teacher. Not many people who work/worked for her like her very much. I once made the comment that she is very nice when I first was hired. Two of her closest colleague responded immediately almost in unison, "Eve is not nice!" Over time I realized that there was a lot of political games going on. Another colleague once said to me that he was tired of "being part of a political campaign." Sending out 15,000 applications for only 400 seats in a school is reprehensible. The money that paid for those mass mailings could have paid the yearly salary of another teacher not to mention the heartache of all those parents who applied but did not get a spot. She does good work trying to give disadvantaged students a quality public school education but at a great cost to staff AND the school's educational budget! school budget.

GEM's Julie Cavanagh Debates E4E member on NY1 on LIFO and Seniority

Davis Guggenheim Compared to Riefenstahl

“Waiting for Superman" is the second most intellectually dishonest piece of documentary work I have seen. It is surpassed only by Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will," the pro-Hitler propaganda classic, in that regard. Uses personal narratives of adorable children to create narrative suspense that overrides public policy discussion with pure emotion in unscrupulous attack on teachers and their unions, among others

Timothy TysonProfessor of African American Studies and HistoryDuke University

A Familiar Voice on Unions

"We must close union offices, confiscate their money and put their leaders in prison. We must reduce workers salaries and take away their right to strike"- Adolf Hitler, May 2, 1933

How Teaching Experience Makes a Difference

Even as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Rhee and others around the nation are arguing for experienced teachers to be laid off regardless of seniority, every single study shows teaching experience matters. In fact, the only two observable factors that have been found consistently to lead to higher student achievement are class size and teacher experience, so that it’s ironic that these same individuals are trying to undermine both.- Leonie Haimson on Parents Across America web site

Outsource our children

Weingarten/Gates Foundation announce drone-driven teacher evaluation

According to a press release issued by the Gates Foundation, the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, these three have entered a ground-breaking partnership to evaluate teachers utilizing the drone technology that has revolutionized warfare in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. A bird-size device floats up to 400 feet above a classroom and instantly beams live video of teachers in action to agents at desks at Teacher Quality Inspection Stations established by the AFT and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

When asked if the drones were authorized to drop bombs on teachers who exhibit inadequacy, Chester E. Finn, Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, replied, "Don't be ridiculous. Gates money puts other methods at our disposal."

Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.5-million-member American Federation of Teachers said the powerful union has signed on to the drone project...

Teacher Value-Added Data Dumping by Norm Scott

The Real Reason Behind Push for Standardized Tests: It's All About the Adults

On standardized testing in our schools

A must read article about the standardized test industry.Written by an insider who has worked as a test scorer, the article outlines a multinational industry based on an army of temporary workers paid by the piece at $0.30 to $0.70 per test, translated in the need to grade 40 tests per hour to make a $12 salary. The article goes on to show how the companies gauge the grading "results" based on the need to ensure new contracts to continue profiting off of our youth. The original article is from Monthly Review. Here it is on Schools Matter blog.

From Sharon Higgins

Parallels between America today and Germany in the 1920's and early 30's

"Resentment and obstruction are all the right wing in America have to peddle. Their policies are utterly discredited. Their ideology - even by its own standards - is a sham. They are so bereft of leaders, their de facto leader is a former drug addicted, thrice-divorced radio talk show host. That is literally the best they can muster. But they have built a national franchise inciting the downwardly mobile to blame the government, not the right, for their problems, exactly as Hitler did in the 1920s."

Chicago View of Unity/UFT on Charters

After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings — though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger.

Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose.

Ed Notes Greatest Hits: HSA Rally and Founding of GEM

Angel Gonzalez and I attended that rally and used the footage to promote our conference on Mar. 28, 2009, which is where the concept of a group like GEM emerged. Until then we had basically been a committee of ICE working with the NYCORE high stakes testing group. The actions of Eva and crew helped spawn GEM. Mommie Dearest!!

I have more video somewhere. I was hoping to get Leni Riefenstahl to edit it but she died. We would have called it "Triumph of the Hedge Fund Operators."

Video of Chicago's George Schmidt and CORE Shredding Arne Duncan and the Chicago Corporate Model

Great Post on Teacher Quality at the Morton School

I'm very tired of the myth that schools are bursting at the seams with apathetic, unskilled, surly, child-hating losers who can't get jobs doing anything else. I recently figured that, counting high school and college where one encounters many teachers in the course of a year, I had well over 100 teachers in my lifetime, and I can only say that one or two truly had no place being in a classroom.